Doll construction



Dec. 29, 1953 D. IPPOLITO DOLL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 5, 1949ATTOQ/YESK swa ,5

Patented Dec. 29, 1953 UNITED STATES rs'rsur orrlcs DOLL CONSTRUCTION.Dcmenick Ippclito, Glendale, Qalit Application August 5, 1949, SerialNo. 108,701

5. Claims, 1

The present invention relates to doll construction of a type whichallows the head, arms and legs to be readily attached to a torso, and insuch a manner as to permit relative turning movement of the members.

The average child prefers a doll which has movable arms, legs and head,but such a construction usually entails expensive assembly, and is notalways satisfactory when the dollis roughly handled in that the partsmay become disconnected.

The present invention has for an object a doll construction whereinvarious members are readily secured to the torso, while at the same timepermitting swinging movement of said members relative to the torso.

A further object is a doll construction which is readily assembled,which will stand rou h usage without breakage, is light of weight and isgenerally superior to doll constructions now known to the inventor.

With the above-mentioned and other objects in view, the inventionconsists in the novel and useful provision, formation, construction, andassociation and relative arrangement of parts, members and features, allas shown in one embodiment in the accompanying drawing describedgenerally and more particularly pointed, out in the claims.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a fragmentary front elevation, partly in section, of a dollembodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a detached view of certain elements of the invention.

Referring now with particularity to the drawing, the doll shown inFigure 1 includes a torso I, legs 2, arms 3, and a head t. The arms,legs and head are articulated relative to the torso I. The torso andhead are hollow and preferably formed of cooperating halves. Thus, inFigure 2, the head 4 is formed of two parts 5 and 6, each part providedwith a step flange, as shown at l and 8, the step flanges of whichcooperate to hold the parts in working relationship. An adhesive of someform is interposed between each flange for joining the flanges together.

The hollow torso I is formed in two portions 8 and it, both portions ofwhich are provided with step flanges ii and 62, which cooperate when thetwo halves of the torso are brought tog-ether, in the same manner as forthe head construction. The torso is provided with flat surfaced portionsat l3, l4, l5, l6 and I1, and passed through each flat surfaced portionis a transverse bore as shown at I8, I9, 28, 2| and 22. In each case theflat surfaced portions are circular plane surfaces and the correspondingbore is coaxial and cylindrical so as to provide a wid diameter bearingof about half the diameter of the flat surfaced portion.

The neck 23 of the head has a flat surface portion 24 which cooperateswith the fiat surfaced portion IT, as best illustrated in Figure 1., andboth arms have iiat surfaced portions 25 which cooperate with the flatsurfaced portions l5 and I5, while the legs have flat surfaced portions2% for cooperation with the flat surfaced portions it and M of thetorso.

The neck, arms and legs are provided with pairs of spaced studs 2? and2%, each stud having a curved outer surface, as shown at and 3t, andprovided with an external tapered enlargement 3i and 32, providingshoulder portions at 33 and 3A. The studs 21 and 28 therefore form agenerally cylindrical split post in which the elongated tapered portionstl-BZ are greater in axial length than I the shank portion between theshoulder and the cylindrical surface or id or it, this shank portionforming the journal of the head, arm, or leg split post. As shown in theseveral figures the split studs or posts have a surface of revolutionincluding a cylinder (the shank or journal) and a cone (the elongatedtapered portion). The shoulder portions aa-st form a latch which inradial section is at a right angle to the journal or shank while theangle between the cone 3l32 and the latch shoulder is acute. Theselatching surfaces or shoulders are semi-annular, and since the widediameter journals fit the bearings quite snugly, the bearing joint isnon-tilting. The spacing between the shoulder portions 33 and 34 and theplain surface 24 in the case of the head, or between the hat surfaces inthe case of the arms and legs, is such as to accommodate the wallthickness of the torso therebetween.

The operation, uses and advantages of the invention just described areas follows:

When the two cooperating halves of the head and torso have been cementedtogether, studs may be passed through the transverse bores It to 22inclusive. The studs, due to the spacing therebetween, will flex topermit the conical tapered portions 3i and 32 to pass through theopening and thereafter assume a normal position to lock the head, armsand legs to the torso in the manner illustrated in Figure 1. It isevident that the shoulder portions 33 and 34 of the studs will preventremoval of the articulated members from the torso. Furthermore, the fiatsurface portions 24, 25 and 26 engage the flat surface portions I3 to 17inclusive of the torso to provide bearing surfaces which in conjunctionwith the studs assure movement of the head, arms and legs withouttipping. The portions 3! and 32 are catches for securing the studs tothe torso. It is evident that the construction shown will permit roughusage of the doll without the likelihood of disengaging any of themovable members from the torso.

I claim:

1. In a doll construction, a wide-diameter, non-tilting bearing jointfor a non-removable appendage pivotally mounted on the body portion ofthe doll, comprising: a hollowtorso having parallel inner and outercircular planesurfaces with a coaxial circular opening therethru ofroughly half the diameter of the outer surface, an appendage having acircular plane surface of the same diameter as the outer torso planesurface, two spaced members extending at right angles to the planesurface of the appendage, integral therewith, and together forming agenerally cylindrical split post, said post having a shank journalsnugly fitting the opening and of a length equal to the thickness of thehollow torso between the parallel surfaces, each of the members having ashoulder to form a latch portion to engage the inside surface of thetorso, the split post being of a material relatively stiff but yieldingso that the two members at their free ends may flex and approach eachother to permit the latch portions to be forced thru the opening wherethey will then return to normal latching position inside the torso, thusforming a socket joint which will allow the head, arm, or leg appendageto turn freely in its wide diameter bearing in the torso, without dangerof being pulled from its socket by ordinary rough handling.

2. The construction of claim 1 in which each of the two members of thesplit post includes an elongated tapered portion greater in axial lengththan the shank portion engaging the circular opening in the torso,extending to the arcuate latching edge in a slight increase in diameterfrom the free ends of the post, for easy insertion in the torso opening,the free end of the post having a, diameter smaller than that of thetorso opening.

3. The construction of claim 2 in which the appendage is an arm, the twomembers of the post have semi-annular shoulders to form latch surfacesto engage the inside surfaces of the torso, and the portions of the twomembers from their free ends to the latch surfaces is a surface ofrevolution including a cylinder and a cone, thereby to facilitateassembly of the arm with the torso, the cross-sectional angle betweenthe shank and the latch shoulder being a right angle, thecross-sectional angle between the latch shoulder and the cone being anacute angle.

4. In a doll contruction, a hollow torso and a hollow head, both oflight weight uniform thickness material capable of slight flexing, thetorso having a horizontal plane surface at its upper end with a centralcircular opening therethru of a diameter at least half that of the neck,said head having at its bottom a horizontal surface, and two spacedmembers integral with the head forming together a vertical split postgenerally cylindrical in form with a tapered portion having a shoulderforming a, catch, the post having a shank portion between the head andthe catch, and fitting snugly the central opening in the torso, thespace between the bottom of the hollow head and the catch being equal tothe thickness of the torso, whereby to provide a large diameter bearingfor the rotatable head.

5. The construction of claim 4 in which the head is in two parts, onemember extending from each of the two parts, the space between the twomembers being at least as great as the thickness of the hollow head andbeing bounded in part by opposed vertical plane surfaces of the twomembers.

DOMENICK IPPOLITO.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 488,090 Budge Dec. 13, 1892 619,809 Unser Feb. 21, 1899928,837 Brisacker Aug. 28, 1906 1,509,604 Myers Sept. 23, 1924 1,676,096Kwasnicki July 3, 1928 1,897,914 Schaeffer Feb. 14, 1933 2,021,115Jackson Nov. 12, 1935 2,271,711 Pallett Feb. 3, 1942

